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Operating experience with biological cooling towers
Author(s) -
Neuner William M.,
Holt Ernest K.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02641429
Subject(s) - cooling tower , environmental science , tower , environmental engineering , waste management , work (physics) , pollution , water cooling , engineering , ecology , civil engineering , mechanical engineering , biology
One of our major water pollution problems concerns the purification of, and disposal of or the bottling up of, waste water from our edible oil processing plant in Edgewater, N.J., and our fatty acids distillation plant in Hammond, Ind. It was decided to investigate the use of a cooling tower as a means of developing an environment for biota growth so that aerobic bacteria would feed on the organic matter present. This preliminary work was done in 1966 on a 30 gpm prototype tower in Hammond and a 720 gpm tower (modified) in Edgewater. As a result of this test work, Lilie Hoffman cooling towers, with high fill to volume ratio and abnormally large water basins, were purchased for our Edgewater plant and Hammond plant. The towers were commissioned in September 1972. The tower systems are fitted with the necessary controls to maintain proper basin water temperature along with automatic feed systems for the nitrogen and phosphorous required for satisfactory biota growth. The Edge water tower, with a capacity of 3700 gpm, has performed satisfactorily with regard to chemical oxygen demand values and odor problems. There have been a few minor mechanical problems. The Hammond tower, with a capacity of 380 gpm, has had mechanical problems which have precluded sufficient continuous operation to assess its performance completely.